


Onset

by AikoIsari



Category: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha | Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Families of Choice, Family, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:24:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 14,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3407159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AikoIsari/pseuds/AikoIsari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>fluff!AU. Post-StrikerS, pre-Vivid. The little girl they found in the cold with only bad memories and barely a name deserved to know about the warmth of not being alone. She deserved to celebrate it too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blanket

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This really isn't too much about Christmas, but it is about family and would technically take place during December. Crossover fun, AU, to anybody who has read the comics as well as seen the animated series, this is kind of me taking a few liberties here. Nothing too extreme. Will Raven remain the same as canon? yes, and no. Complicated, I know. Also, she is eight, a year older than Vivio herself. Again, more liberties. I love those! Canon knowledge is not really required to understand the references, as they will be mentioned and expanded upon for the most part.
> 
> All that said, read, review, and enjoy!

1- Blanket

"Vivio! I don't think staring at her will wake her up any sooner."

The girl turned at her mother's voice from the kitchen, looking away from the sleeping child. "But  _Mama_ , you can't celebrate Christmas if you're sleeping!"

Takamachi Nanoha giggled as only a young woman could. That was true. She had made this very same point to Fate on their first  _non-violent_ Christmas together. (She loved Hayate to bits, but that incident had put a real damper on holiday spirit even with the party.) "Can't celebrate it when you're grumpy, either," she reasoned instead, resolving not to tell her newly-official daughter that. "Besides, she was out in the cold. I wouldn't want to be awake right now either. So come on, let her sleep and help me with these cookies. After all, Fate-chan is going to need a perk-up after work today!"

Vivio quietly pumped a fist in agreement, rising from her stool and moving away. Perhaps the smell of sugar would wake her up. She probably needed to wake up soon, but she was too cold to wake up.

Her face was grey and solemn in sleep, Vivio noticed. She was too still there, breathing too quietly and almost invisible under the blanket. It was scary.

Maybe she was scared.

Vivio understood fear.

"Vivio!"

She turned, ready to go to her, but the sleeper made a noise. Vivio squeaked. "Mama!" The sleeper shifted, moaning again. Her face scrunched as it tried to defy waking up, but by the time Nanoha arrived in the room, her eyes were beginning to open. Nanoha couldn't help the smile on her face. The girl was naturally startled. She had been unconscious and half-frozen after all.

Slowly, the girl drew herself up under the blanket. She didn't look threatening, but her face was trying to keep itself frozen in a blank expression. Her eyes, to Nanoha's delight, were a complete giveaway, much like Fate's had been. Granted, there wasn't much to give, other than bewilderment, but the Ace of Aces would take what she could get.

"Nice to see you awake," she said, sitting down on Vivio's vacated stool. Her daughter remained standing, but she shifted from heel to toe, struggling to contain the bursting energy that had been running through her system since her birthday. She was happy to see her daughter's courage, especially considering this child seemed very close to tears. Or that she needed to be. The unnamed girl looked at her, purple eyes seeming to see something that wasn't visible. In a way, she seemed less like Fate, but more like Lutecia, according to reports. "How are you feeling?"

For a moment, the girl seemed not to know what she was saying. Then she looked down, a rather quick avoiding of the eyes, and said simply. "Cold."

"Well, if you said you were warm, I'd be worried," Nanoha commented, making sure to prevent Vivio from jumping in and babbling, as was her wont when she was excited or curious. Nanoha didn't know  _where_ that came from. Nope, not her. "Would you like some tea?"

The girl nodded, expression perking minutely at the sound of the word  _tea_ , and drew the blankets around her more tightly. Vivio, uninhibited by her mother, jumped in, making sure the woman was going to get a warm cup. "You were outside in the cold for ages," she said, looking as wide-eyed as the nameless new friend. Or family, probably family. They had a big family anyway. It wouldn't be so bad. "You were up against a bus stop. It was good that it wasn't snowing! Why were you there?"

The girl blinked, tilting her head. She seemed to be trying to process what Vivio was saying, and then shook her head. She didn't know, didn't remember.

"Vivio, stop that," her mother scolded as she returned to the room, carrying a tea mug and a couple of bowls.. "Remember when I found you? All those questions would have given you a headache."

The girl flushed. "Oops." Then she frowned. "But, Nanoha-mama," she began, as though a new thought had just occurred to her. "What if someone's looking for her?"

Nanoha tilted her red head, frowning in a perfect imitation of her daughter. "I suppose that's true."

"Nobody's looking for me," the girl said, and then her mouth shut with a nearly audible click. Her eyes had widened with horror and then were squeezed shut. The teacup began to crack, but then stopped and the girl drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping the blanket around herself. She didn't move for a few moments, and Nanoha and Vivio looked at each other. Vivio had only a limited understanding of what was going on. She knew plenty of sad people, after all.

However, Nanoha had a very, very raw understanding, and on the inside, rage was bubbling hot in her throat. The girl was shying back, though, and that was odd. Despite that, Nanoha reached out a hand anyway. The girl flinched and Vivio almost leaned to stop her movement, but instead, Nanoha gently patted the short, purple hairs that stuck from under the blanket.

"It's all right," she said gently. "You can stay there if you want. It's nice and warm after all." The eyes peeked out from behind the safety of the white fabric and Nanoha counted this as a step in the right direction. "I'm going to go get another cup," she declared. "I set this one down too hard." She stood and left, smiling and humming a little tune.

Vivio watched her go before turning back to the silent cocoon. "That was cool," she informed her, sitting in the space vacated by the girl's legs. "I usually have to punch something before I can do that. You must have lots of magic."

"... Yeah." Vivio couldn't see the other's face but there was something in those eyes, something sad.

Vivio decided not to press, and instead placed her own small hand on the edge of the blanket, the barrier. "My name is Takamachi Vivio," she informed her with little-kid solemnity. "Who are you?"

"A demon."

Vivio merely nodded at this. "I'm a clone," she said, smiling. "But what's your name?"

"... You care?"

She sounded surprised and that made Vivio a little sad. Not discouraged exactly, but sad. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

The other girl blinked. Had she never thought of it before? She was like Lutecia, so  _so_ much! For a moment, she seemed to mull it over, as though she had rarely ever heard her name spoken. Then, she decided it was worth it and nodded. "Raven," she said. "I was never given a last name. No one was."

"Ooh." Vivio was curious now, but in the back of her mind, a more pressing question arose. "Can I call you Rae?"

Raven blinked, and her grey skin flushed a faint pink. "Yes..."

"Yay!" Satisfied, Vivio hopped up to sit fully on the couch."Nanoha-mama is baking cookies for Fate-mama. Want to help?"

Rae nodded again, and when Vivio extracted the blanket from around her arms, she didn't resist.

"Mama!" Vivio called. "Rae-chan's going to help too!"

She heard her mother giggle. "Well, I'll be out there in a minute, then."


	2. Baking

2-Baking

The living room was a mess, but Miss Nanoha didn't seem to mind. She didn't seem to be angry about anything to do with her, so Raven kept her questions to herself.

Raven knew something was bothering Miss Nanoha. Her aura seemed erratic, like it was trying to do something but only succeeded in making her stomach squirm. Poor Miss Nanoha. She wanted to be nice, she supposed, but to be nice to demons was dangerous. They could hurt people real easy. And she had already cracked something.

But was that the problem? Because she couldn't be nice? True, her daughter being a demon had never stopped her mother from being nice, but far away, but that was more out of obligation than anything else, she had thought. Wasn't it? Be nice because she's your daughter and then she won't set the chapel on fire?

That didn't seem to be the case with Miss Nanoha. She seemed to be trying to be nice for the sake of being nice. So was Vivio, but Vivio was small, like Raven herself, and probably didn't know any better.

Though a lot of her denied it, she hoped Vivio would never know better.

"Ooh, Rae-chan that one came out great!"

She flushed, and then winced at her own embarrassment. She shouldn't be getting so emotional over that. It was just praise and just Vivio being happy.

But it made her happy, and… why did it do that?

There was a soft whoosh near her ear and Raven flinched, looking up to see a red jewel floating just by her right ear. [Hello] it said, glowing as the mechanical female voice resounded. Raven felt the tight reins on her control slip and power lashed out towards the jewel-

Only for it to pass harmlessly through it and vanish.

"Raising Heart!" Vivio cried, either having not noticed or not worried. "You startled her!"

[My apologies.]

Raven wanted to say something, but what was she supposed to say? There were very few gems in her old home that actually did anything without prompting, and were as such under the labeling 'very dangerous', like her.

"Um…"

"That's Raising Heart," Vivio supplied, seeing her mother entering the room and waving a small hand at the bauble. "We have Magical Devices to channel our power into here. Raising Heart belongs to Mama."

[That's right.]

The girl nodded, wondering if Vivio needed to draw breath when she talked. Deciding that, since there were little bursts of happiness coming from her body, she likely didn't. Slowly, she reached to touch the red jewel with her finger. "It's warm," she noted.

[That is because of the magic you gave me. You have potential to be a User.]

Raven mentally filed those words away under "confusing terminology" as Miss Nanoha returned to the room. "It looks like my partner's taken a liking to you," she said, smiling. These two smiled very easily. Everyone warned her against that at home… which this place was not. Maybe it was a dream.

No, if it was a dream. If it was, her father would have destroyed it by now and made her cry and scream and break things. She hated to dream.

She quietly pressed the cookie cutter down once more and nodded at the redheaded woman. Her smile only softened and Raven hid a flinch.

Somehow, the fact that she thought it was real made it so much worse.

"Neh, Rae-chan, would it be all right if we took you to get your magic examined soon?"

Raven looked up. Mild suspicion rose in the back of her mind. People never asked her things. They told her to do them, or  _bad things would happen_. Or was she remembering incorrectly?"Why would you do that?"

Nanoha hummed. "Well, when I found out about magic, apparently I made a bang." Vivio giggled. "And you seem to have pretty good control-"

 _No I don't,_ she thought.

"But, if the Bureau gets it looked at, we can take measures to help you live normally, without overstraining yourself."

Raven dropped the cookie cutter, not even able to wince at the thump it made on the carpet. The part of her expecting Azar's scoldings reproached her for such easy slips of control but the rest was in deep shock. "Normal?" she repeated.

Nanoha did not laugh, and she wasn't sure if that made things better or worse. "Of course!"

"Yep!" Vivio smiled and somehow that brought her heartbeat down. "I have to get checked out once in a while to make sure my magic levels and physical health are okay. It really doesn't hurt a bit! And the sisters at the Church are so nice!"

Raven wanted to ask if they were like Azar… or like the kind mother who visited her once in a while. She would guess, if they treated them with high regard, they were like neither, but she doubted they knew who Azar was anyway, or where Azarath was.

But all of that was less important than the earlier words. "I… could live normally? Without…" Without always meditating and being mocked for it? Without having to sit by herself on benches and watch everyone else live? Without people flinching every time they saw her face?

"Yes," Nanoha assured. "And within our family, if you would like."

She didn't know why she was crying.


	3. Hope

3-Hope

Fate didn't know what to think, really.

Nanoha had sounded calm on the video message, but whenever her eye twitched and her grip started cracking the ceramic tea cups, there was a problem.

They had a guest, and Fate could only surmise that their circumstances were... less than stellar.

Fate smiled to herself. Well. Nothing she couldn't handle. Hopefully after some dinner and a bath, she could sit the guest down and talk.

… Nothing like Nanoha's idea of talking of course. Goodness, no.

"I'm home!"  _At least for a few days._ It was the only bad thing about being an Agent, her insane schedule was not fun to deal with during a crisis. It was a bit hard to get used to.

Fate shook off these thoughts as Vivio came out to greet her. Her goddaughter tugged at a small, greyish hand to follow her and the other girl was pliant, if puzzled. There was a faint splotchy tone to her skin by the eyes. A small smile rose to Fate's lips.

Already, she was thinking of Caro. She would have to talk to those children of hers.

"Welcome home, Fate-mama!" Vivio chirped, running to hug at her other mother's waist. The other girl watched, quietly using the wall to hold her up. Fate smiled and mussed her hair.

"I'm back, Vivio," she hummed, giving the girl inches away a glance of her own. "Neh… what's your name?"

"She's Rae-chan!" Vivio chimed before the girl could think of answering and Fate tutted with amusement. Vivio was really picking up her own self, which was nice, but in this case…

"Vivio, let her talk." Vivio flushed and apologized, earning a chuckle in return. She moved to kneel in front of the other girl. Rae stepped back a little, looking at first glance, unreadable. She saw her expression waver, however, and offered a hand to shake. "My name is Fate, Fate Testarossa Harlaown. So you're called Rae?"

The girl hesitated again before nodding. "Raven," she eventually corrected, instantly flushing pink. Then she paused. "Is it different? Having another name?"

Fate blinked, contemplating the question. At first glance, an odd question, at second, well… not really. So she shook her head."No, it just gets confusing to hear Harlaown when one of my family is in the same room." Raven nodded, turning this in her mind. Fate ushered Vivio out to her mother. Private conversations did need to be private after all. "So… how did you get here?"

Raven blinked at her, expression turning to a wall that she recognized from her own young face, once upon a time. "Someone threw me out here through a tunnel, a very colorful tunnel." The frown on her face deepened, and Fate recognized the logic running through her young mind. It would be better to give them as much information as possible, to think of excellent solutions. That was how Linith had taught her to think, and it was likely whoever had taught her to make a face like that, had schooled her in that way as well.

"And?" She coaxed, deciding to ponder the reasoning and implications of it at another time. None of these tidbits of information were said out of trust, but of pragmatic risk-taking. No matter how much she and Nanoha had spent their youth blasting people to get them to listen, there was no substitution to a therapist.

Nor was murdering whoever was responsible. She hoped she didn't have to convince Nanoha out of that one.

The girl placed a hand to her chest. "There was a lot of pain here during it because…" Now she was shifting, a small change of her stance to one ready for movement out of the room to safer territory, likely under a blanket. "Because it forced something away from me that had been there forever… I believe."

Fate smiled and nodded. To be honest, she was mildly put-off by the going's-on. There was much less emotion than she was used to dealing with from small children. Even in the case of Erio, it was more of a lot of repressed anger and in Caro, a sense of self-fear and worthlessness. According to them, what afflicted Lutecia was loneliness.

She did wonder what affected this child.

The girl waited, thinking, puzzling her out perhaps. Then she nodded to herself. "Then… I don't remember. I woke up on the ground and went to the closest light I could find, and fell asleep again." She made a movement like a shrug and Fate smiled.

"You remember quite a bit for being so young."

The girl almost flushed, almost. Fate smiled. "What are they doing in there?" She gestured to the other room, where the smell of dough was rather strong.

"Making cookies," was the prompt reply. Her mouth remained closed after that and then Fate offered her hand, wearing a mildly mischievous smile.

"Eating the dough too, I bet. Shall we go stop them?"

Raven didn't take the hand, but she did nod, and that was a start. Fate took a few steps toward the living room when thegirl suddenly began, "Miss Fate?"

The woman made a mental note to not laugh, as she was only twenty and the term "miss" was probably barely suited to  _Signum_ , let alone her, and turned back. "Yes?"

"Miss Nanoha-" And she really  _had_ to stifle her giggles now. "Said that the doctors could help me be normal." The purple eyes that looked at her reminded her very much of those crying sessions in her mother's arms, telling her of how strange she felt around the other human beings even with Nanoha and Hayate as her treasured friends.

It would be so easy to say yes, let the adults handle it -because she was an adult, now wasn't she?- but it wouldn't be all of the truth. Lying wouldn't reflect well on her, or on anyone involved either.

So she walked back over and knelt there. "I can say this. They can try and they will likely succeed, but… being normal is something up to you. You will need to figure out your definition of that. And, if you want, we'll help you too."

She wasn't sure if this would really do anything to allay the girl's fears, but to bring hope was something she had to try.

Everyone needed hope.


	4. Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting so many interested readers, but no feedback. Not too big a deal, but I will be grateful if I get a review or two. This is kind of revealing where in the world this story takes place in Teen Titans land, but it will not get touched upon too heavily in this, at least as far as I'm aware. If there is a sequel, there will be a lot of blatant revealing there. Enjoy everybody!

The fireplace had come with their house, according to Vivio, and was rarely used. Yet before her eyes, the embers crackled, warm, a warmth that she loved. Rae had always liked warmth and heat and sunlight. She couldn't say why, but she did.

She did have to admit, though, watching the snowfall was beautiful.

Her large violet eyes lingered around the room. They had let her stay in this large living room, instead of go to a guest room. No questions were asked; nothing was commanded of her. It was… strange. She expected orders, solid foundations,  _things_ to do.

They didn't seem to expect anything of her.

It was confusing.

"Psst! Rae-chan!"

Vivio was crawling on the floor, grinning up from underneath a quilt wrapped like a robe. Anyone else could look imposing… but Vivio just looked silly. The girl made her way onto the other side of the sofa, crawling up to sit on the left arm of the sofa. "Hi!"

Rae-why was it suddenly so easy to think of herself like that?- nodded. "Aren't you… supposed to be sleeping?"

Vivio grinned. "I was, but then I woke up, and I figured you were lonely down here. So I thought I would sleep down here with you for a while, or you'd come up to my room." Rae blinked and Vivio hurried to add. "We could stay down here, though! Nanoha-mama rarely uses the fireplace because it's cleaner if we don't. Cleaner for the air."

Even when she whispered, Vivio was a very bright, bright person. It was strange but not quite as much as when she gave her a hug. Hugs were a little weird. Hugs in general weren't expected at home.

_In the dream, they were, just not from you._

She shook her head. That was a  _dream_. This was real. It was real because she wasn't particularly good at imagining normal things. Rae could dream about heroics and unusual people and things that were different. She knew this was real because  _magic_ was normal.

Even in the dream, everyone was unique. And that was silly.

"Neh, Rae-chan!" Vivio popped very close to her face and in a moment of confusion, she wondered when the girl had gotten there. "Do you know any fairy tales?"

Rae blinked. (It was better to think of herself in this name while she still could, in case someone  _was_ looking for her.) "The woman who taught me said learning fairy tales was pointless because they were lies."  _And violent._ Azar preached non-violence.

Vivio shook her head. "Mama read me some once. They were nice." She flopped down, landing straight in Rae's lap. The purple girl almost yelped. Really, why was Vivio so touchy? "Did you not want me to do that?"

"It… It… surprised me." Raven rubbed her eyes. This wasn't like her. She was supposed to be quiet, out-of-the-way,  _not being touched_. She guessed Vivio broke rules a lot then. Vivio moved, probably to sit up, but Rae placed a tiny hand back. "No… um, don't-" She looked for a word, the right words, but none arrived. Vivio merely grinned and did as asked, whatever it was she was actually trying to ask.

For a while, they were both silent, Rae looking at the crackling flames out of the corner of her eyes and Vivio toying with the plush rabbit she had brought down with her.

Then Vivio spoke. "Do you want to be someone else, Rae-chan?"

Rae blinked. "Like who?"

She earned a shrug. "I dunno. A different you, one who's an adult and strong and stuff." Rae wanted to answer that with a yes,but… she didn't know. What  _did_ she want? "I do," Vivio added. "I...was weak before, and I cried a lot. I still cry a lot sometimes. But…" She clenched a small fist. "I want to get stronger and stronger, so my mamas don't have to save me all the time. Maybe…" The girl laughed. "Maybe I could save my mamas for once! That would be so cool!"

"Miss Nanoha… and Miss Fate… they're strong?"

Vivio nodded. "The strongest… right now." She winked. "You and me could beat them someday, though."

Rae shook her head reflexively. "I'm not supposed to fight like that."

Vivio frowned. "Why not?"

Rae wondered if Vivio would understand it, when she couldn't. "Because I will hurt people. I will get angry and scared and hurt people."

_You already have, haven't you?_

It was cold in there for some reason.

Vivio made a small noise and shook her head. "Whoever told you that was wrong. They had to be."

"How?" The prophecy would hurt people, she, the portal, would hurt people. It was a fact.

Vivio planted her bunny into Rae's hands. "You're in this new place and it's all scary and you aren't hurting me right now, are you?"

"I…" She planted two fingers to her head and took a deep breath. That made sense… but it didn't make sense.

Vivio giggled. "We should be sleeping instead of confusing."

"Ye...Yes…"

She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but when Rae woke, the sky was bright and she and Vivio were covered in a quilt, one child on top of the other.

Maybe this was a dream too.


	5. Fog

"Have you ever lost control of your magic before?"

Another question in the midst of many.

Rae spun mentally with the inquiries and the energy she had been holding tight inside almost washed out of her and towards a piece of machinery. But, like a weird type of sponge, the magic sank into the walls and disappeared.

The woman smiled at her through long bangs. It was a harmless smile, she thought, harmless from a woman who didn't look to be all that harmless. She guessed nobody in this world was all that harmless because of all the magic everywhere, except maybe Vivio. And judging by how confusing she could be, maybe she was dangerous too.

Did it matter if Rae was a demon then?

Rae nodded to the question, trying to recall specific incidents that were particularly extreme. Or not extreme. Did it matter? She recalled breaking a room of fine china and magic artifacts when her mother had hugged her. "If I have extreme emotional outbursts, it happens a lot."

"Outbursts or just emotion?" The woman asked gently.

The air rippled about Rae as she flushed. She shouldn't be so transparent. "Emotion," she admitted.

The woman scribbled down and added."What did they ask you to do about it in the place you lived?"

"Not to feel,"she answered automatically, relaxing. This she could say. She knew the answers to these sorts of was better than the earlier ones, like: what do you do for fun, who is in your family. How to cope with your power, have you read enough, are you doing it right? She knew the answers to these questions. Don't feel, meditate it away, there's never enough reading, and obviusly not. Quick, succinct.

The woman nodded, and a small burst of orange left her skin. Rae reeled a moment then shoved it aside. She had expected it to be red. "Has it worked?"

Rae blinked and the energy began to itch at her palms again. "Worked?"

"You continue to have outbursts, yes?"

Oh. "Because I'm not doing it well."

"Is that so?" The voice remained gentle, but suddenly it grated on her. Yes, naturally. If they were her powers, it was her fault that she couldn't control them.

 _But they aren't yours,_ her mind whispered.  _They belong to your father._

It didn't matter. They were still hers... oh darn it.

The air around her had begun to ripple, black waves slipping between the space in her fingers. Fear rose and she tried to quell it but the energy continued to slip out. She looked at the woman, who, besides a mild flare of grey, seemed unaffected. "I see," she said softly. "Well, I think I know what to do here."

Though her voice and expression didn't change, Rae found herself shying back. It was like Azar, so much like her. Warmer yes, and not angry, but still too much disapproval. She closed her eyes, took two deep breaths, and opened them again. "I'm sorry." The words were a reflex, no longer said out of guilt because feeling that put her as far back as feeling angry.

It was best not to feel at all, really.

"Yes, i do believe your original method of tackling this was inappropriate."

Rae almost bristled but she bit her tongue, the pain outweighing the fury.

The woman nodded. "It's all right, dear. We just need to do a few more tests later. I think I've found the problem. For today, we'll leave it at one last question: does your magic come from you, or from somewhere else?"

Raven thought about it, considered Vivio's reaction, and then gave the truth that she understood, which was little. There weren't books about this, because of course she  _had to be different_ , didn't she? The energy bubbled again, but this time she ignored it. "It's linked to my father."

The woman nodded. "So have you used your own magic before?"

 _That's another question._ "My own?"

Another nod, accompanied by a brush of dark hair. "Your father's magic is what seems to be spiraling out of control, but what about yours? Surely you have your own?"

"My powers come from my father."

The woman's aura flickered orange and grey and Rae couldn't hold back the hiss. She was just telling the truth! What else could she say?

She caught herself too late, and the energy snapped from her grasp and lashed out, smashing into a piece of equipment. This time, the walls did not react and the machine took the blow, magic crashing inward and creating a hole in its center. Glass shattered and wires sparked. The woman waved her hand to create a small frost to quell it, but wasn't fast enough to stop Rae from darting out of the room, past a dozing Vivio with Nanoha and down the hallway. The magic bubbled and tried to flee her hands but she clenched them into fists.

_Have to contain it… release it somewhere… idiot!_

Rae wasn't even sure what she had broken, but it had to have been important, or it wouldn't have been in there.

She wasn't even sure where she was running to, just somewhere if she tore everything apart, it wouldn't be a person.

She hoped it wouldn't anyway.


	6. Frost

Vivio had meant to be doing her homework during the doctor visit, but it was taking way too long and the work was pretty easy anyway. They were probably overdoing it with Rae-chan, making her all nervous and jumpy and confused. Nanoha-mama had warned her they might do that without thinking because doctors and nurses tended to be logical and patient but very focused. They would find what was wrong… not that Vivio thought anything was really wrong with Rae-chan… other than bad teachers.

Who taught kids to not read  _fairy tales_? Or to hate magic?

Well, she wasn't sure Rae  _hated_ magic, persay, more like that she hated that she had it. That was complicated though. Why would you hate a part of yourself? Maybe other people had hated it and told her that she should hate it too, which was dumb. Why hate something that wasn't even your fault?

Or maybe, like she had thought before, Rae was just scared of herself.

Vivio wished she knew what it was like to be scared of herself, because then she would be able to help.

She would have to leave it to Nanoha-mama and Fate-mama instead, she supposed. Nanoha-mama had saved her, after all.

Raising Heart let out a chime. [Master!]

In the other room, something smashed and Rae went streaking out past them. Her hands were curled into fists inside her cloak, but she was still running like she had seen a ghost.

"Rae-chan!" she shouted but the girl didn't answer, footsteps fading as fast as they appeared. Vivio leaped from her seat, intent on going after her. But her mama's hand gently tugged her back. "Mama!" She almost fell back onto her bottom.

"Give her a few moments, Vivio. She probably worked herself up." Nanoha stroked her daughter's knuckles with the pad of her thumb, smiling ruefully. She sighed. "I'll talk to her first, okay? Then you can help."

"But… she'll think I'm scared of her," her daughter protested. Nanoha hummed.

"It's better than you scaring her and giving her a good reason to think that." Vivio gave a reluctant nod and waited for her mother. Nanoha-mama seemed very calm. Her mama was usually like that, not that Vivio had any reason to want her upset.

"Mama?"

"Hm?"

"Did Rae-chan do a bad thing?"

Nanoha paused for only a second. The Ace of Aces was not known for hesitation after all. "Mmhm. She broke the machine, by the sound of things." Seeing Vivio's miserable expression, she grinned. "I don't think she meant to though. You'd have done worse if you could."

Vivio pouted. Nanoha-mama was probably right, but still! She was learning how to fight so she  _could_ do worse but that wasn't the point. "Nanoha-mama…"

"Do you think you can help?"

She winced at the question. Her mama wasn't trying to be mean, but she was asking her to be honest. She was asking her to be honest. Could she help Rae-chan? She wasn't really sure about that but…

" _No...um, don't-"_

There were words under that, heaps of them that just didn't make sense and did at the same time. It was like feelings and words were trying to be understood at the same time and it was murky.

Vivio had no idea if she could really help at all, especially if neither of them knew how to say anything properly. She looked at her tiny, weak hands and clenched them.

"I want to try," she said.

Her mother smiled, that proud one she had gotten every time she had helped the housekeepers properly at Riot Force Six or got up from a fall with nothing more than a wince. Then she whirled her daughter around and placed Raising Heart in her hands. "Off you go then. Be careful. You still don't have the basics."

"Right!"

Vivio turned on her heel and ran, out towards the halls, the cold.

She wondered what they would do with Rae-chan. Would she go to the Academy with her? Into the military? Be adopted by a nice family? Would they try to send her home?

That would be sad if she went home. She seemed nice…

Well, she would just have to convince Rae to stay.

Vivio pulled her coat tighter as she made it out to the courtyard. There, the wind brushed at her, but she clenched her fingers tight in her pockets and ignored it. It was just wind and snow!

Raising Heart flashed from next to her ear and vivio followed the Device to peer behind a tree. Small pulses of magic riddled the air, and Vivio didn't need her Mama's smarts to guess what was happening. Did magic normally do that, just burst out with a will of its own?

Tapping her foot, Vivio searched for something, anything to say. She didn't want to look at Rae, mostly because she guessed Rae didn't want to lash out at her. She frowned, puzzled. Arf-san would know what to do here, she was Fate-mama's familiar after all. She brushed at Raising Heart's frame and looked around at the still-falling snow.

Then Vivio grinned in pure triumph. She had seen this in a movie once, so it had to work.

"Wanna build a snowman?"


	7. Angels

As it turned out, the snow was not sticky enough to build a snowman, but it was snowing enough that when Vivio fell over more than once, it didn't do more than be very cold and wet. And make Rae laugh, though the girl flushed every time she did.

That was fine, everyone needed to laugh.

It wasn't like she didn't start giggling herself. The snow had fallen in a pile on Rae's head at one point and her face and cheeks had turned red until her nose was pink and that was fun!

It was even more fun when Nanoha-mama actually found them and, instead of scolding them, dropped snow piles from the trees with the power of Raising Heart. By the time it all stopped, they were all drenched and cold, with red-flushed faces and smiles. Rae's sadness was not gone, not exactly, but it didn't matter quite so much. She seemed better now that she was actually in a fluffy white coat and earmuffs and shivering less but now all Vivio wanted to do was get a nice bath. And sleep the whole drive home.

The best part of today was: she was holding Rae's hand, and Rae wasn't stopping her. She didn't even think Rae had noticed.

Well, no one was going to let her know about either, not if Vivio had anything to say about it.

...Wait. What if you were supposed to tell people things like that? Oh well, she didn't care. She laid her head and Rae's shoulder and didn't remember falling asleep until the next day.

Nanoha watched Rae jerk in surprise,almost rolling to the other side of the car. She caught the girl's eye from the rearview mirror and winked. With a small flush, she seemed to make the decision to stay still, and Nanoha took the control of the car from Raising Heart for the rest of the drive.

She had to muffle her giggles when Rae fell asleep against the window. "Raising Heart, can you pass a message to Fate-chan? We're going to need two sets of hands in about ten minutes."

[All right.]

Fate was standing outside when she pulled in, dressed warmly but with pink cheeks and rubbing her mitten-covered hands together. At the sight of the children asleep in the backseat, she giggled, reaching to unbuckle the seatbelts. Vivio made a noise in her sleep as Rae was pulled away. Nanoha laughed a little, locking their car.

"I guess we can't let these two be apart for very long." She shivered at a brush of wind. "Or in this cold!"

Later, when the two girls were asleep, Fate and Nanoha lounged together on the couch. "How was it?"

Nanoha sighed a little. "Could have been worse. She had a small burst of magic towards the end and ran off to prevent it from getting worse. broke a machine."

"Magic leakage?" Fate asked, thinking to meeting a little redheaded boy with electric hands. "Shouldn't that be unintentional?"

"The sister said it was likely that it was, only…" Nanoha twiddled her thumbs. "Rae-chan practices a heavy type of emotional regulation… to the point that it backfires on her."

"So it's unintentionally intentional?" Fate licked her lips. "Or… it's been twisted to make her think it's intentional."

"That was the guess. During the examination, they found her Linker tied to something. Another source, rather like…, well," Nanoha fidgeted and Fate waited for the anger clouding over her dear friend's eyes to fade. "Like the Book of Darkness incident."

"Is she still connected to it?" Was there a Reinforce device they could talk to? A girl they could save?

"Barely, but the drain is powerful. Her magic has always been directed towards that whatever it may be. The suggestion they had was to redirect it through something else. Reteach magic."

"Through a Device?"

Nanoha nodded. "I hope so."

"In any case, there's no way we can send her back," Fate said, rising from the couch.  _Not into an unhealthy environment like that one._

"Well, for one thing, we don't even know where to start. The Bureau hasn't reported anything."

"They'd like to see her, just in case," Nanoha murmured. "But there wasn't much of a magical imprint left when she appeared. That alone is…"

"Disquieting," Fate finished. "But for now, she's one of us."

"Forever if we can help it!" Nanoha agreed with a giggle. "Mah, we just keep finding our share of crying children, don't we?"

"Including each other," Fate teased, smiling.

They went up to bed, neither hearing the soft alerts of Raising Heart and Bardiche go off from the table. A few minutes later, the warnings went away, as the possible intruder left the steps of their home.

For the rest of the night, the air was still.


	8. Count

Vivio sneezed for the fifth time in a row, wiping her nose. Rae marveled that there was no burst of magic each time, but she was starting to realize that it leaving her body wasn't normal at all.

Well, okay, she  _had_  known that, but even among people with magic, it wasn't quite supposed to be like that.

Vivio sneezed again and then whimpered. "That one hurt…" She glanced at Rae, who was looking over at her with sympathy tugging her mouth from its neutral line into a nervous frown. "I'm okay…"

"Sneezes like that don't seem okay." Not that Rae got all that sick normally, but looking at the other girl's face, it seemed that Vivio looked ready to have a nosebleed at any time.

"They're not, but Vivio is trying this whole 'stubborn determination' thing."

Rae stepped back to avoid the bucket of water swishing about in Fate's hands. Fate reached out after setting it down, mussing the smaller girl's hair. Rae blinked, putting a hand to her head and then lowering it. She had managed to not twitch or run away, or anything over the past three days. Vivio had dragged her on runs and practices in the cold, and didn't take no for an answer. Well, at least if she wanted to go and leave, she would know how to get back.

So maybe all of this sneezing had its perks. Kind of.

Vivio pouted at her mother and sat back in the bed. Her blond hair fell messily over her face and she made a noise of disgust at the tissues around her. "I'm being Nanoha-mama," she said with a huff. "You guys wouldn't get brought down by a cold."

"Uh-huh," Fate said with sympathy, it glowing warm rose red. "You'd be surprised. Go to sleep. We'll tell you all about the tuning when we get back."

Vivio pitched her voice to protest but failed, the curls on each side of her head drooping with a cough. Rae fumbled for something to say and grimaced, drawing a blank. The thought of taking the other girl's hand rose in her mind and then was discarded because she knew touching was still dangerous (why did the adult hands not pass along things the same as children hands?). "Get some sleep," she said instead and Vivio beamed like she had said something worthwhile.

"Un!"

Rae had no clue what to say to that, so she followed Fate to the car, holding one hand to the other. As she slipped into the backseat, she let out an undignified yelp and the car shook. Fate glanced back at her, realizing the problem. The woman let out a tiny, sweet laugh and moved to help her with the seatbelt again.

"You and Vivio are so tiny," she mused, adjusting the seatbelt. "I forgot about that when you two fell asleep in the car." Rae looked at her hands, thoughtfully examining under the nails as the woman added. "I'm not sure what that says about magic levels, but when children are younger, it grows faster."

"What was yours?" Rae said this without thinking, having closed her eyes to meditate again. It was actually nice when someone spoke over her meditation, like someone had done it before. Though before, it had been louder, and perhaps… more than one person?

Fate let out a sheepish laugh. (Rae still had to get used to the sound, even when they didn't see her around, monks tended to be a bit of a serious bunch.) "S-Somewhere in the millions… (1)"

Rae considered this. "Wow," she finally said. She would guess that was a lot. "And your magic didn't break anything?"

"No," Fate replied, pausing to start driving. " I was never in a position to do something like that. Precia-okaa-san… she was never fond of imperfections."

Rae thought she knew what that meant, based on the way that Fate's voice turned somehow even softer.

"But she loved me," the woman added, almost to herself. "I'm sure of that."

The car went very quiet and Rae closed her eyes. The question hanging in the air had almost been able to fit in Raven's palms. She decided to meditate instead of thinking about it.

Because she feared the answer was no.

…

When they reached the facility, Fate was talking about the Devices and what Rae would be doing in a few moments. Rae squeezed her knees. Fate's voice was very relaxed, and somehow more sunny yellow than her hair.

"Have you done this before?" Rae finally asked as they finished at the receptionist's desk.

Fate nodded, a wistful smile touching her face. "Twice. I'm the guardian of a couple of good kids who are in the military. I had to take them to this… though back then, they were rather terrified. The Bureau wasn't very kind to them."

Rae shifted on her feet. Fate and Nanoha were kind, so perhaps they were exceptions to the rule of adults being, well, not kind to different people.

"I think Nanoha and I tend to attract the good hearts," Fate added with a chuckle. She stopped at a door and knocked. "Mary-san, are you awake in there?"

There was a pause and who opened the door was a young woman with purple hair. "Ah…" She blinked large green eyes. "Fate-san?"

"Subaru!" Fate clapped her hands and Rae had to blink at the sudden burst of strawberry and yellow that flooded the room. She almost stepped back as the other woman straightened with slight alarm.

"En-Enforcer Fate!" she half-shouted. "I, I, um didn't expect to see you here!"

Fate giggled. "It's all right, Subaru. I'm off duty for today." She made a gentle gesture for Rae. Rae moved forward cautiously, looking at Subaru with half-wonder, half concern. The older girl laughed sheepishly, switching from a salute to scratching her head.

"S-Sorry, Fate-san." Subaru knelt to look at Rae. "Adopting more kids already?"

Fate chuckled as Rae felt her face burn up. "Something like that."

"You keep finding cute ones too!" Subaru chirped.

Rae stared, trying to keep her expression neutral. She wasn't seeing short purple hair all of a sudden, but long red. The green eyes were the same, bright, warm, alive, more formal speech, shamelessly emotional… a name like the sky, like something in the night sky.

Her head began to throb, and she unconsciously put her hand to her temple. Energy started to bubble up along with image, red lines on her skin, pain, pain, sadness…

A loud wailing alarm broke through all of this as Fate knelt beside her.

" _Intruder on the training grounds. All combat officers standby and make your way to training ground seven."_


	9. Crashes

The crater he made in the ground wasn't nearly large enough to explain the agony ripping through his skull. However, kicking around mutants and evil doers for a living had given him plenty of endurance. Robin shifted slowly from his side to all fours and winced. The burns on his arms were mild, but the cool air made him cringe regardless. He was lucky his suit was heat resistant.

"Where... am I?" He forced himself to his feet. He was no longer in a place that fulfilled all of the stereotypes of hell, not that he was complaining. It was the open area outside of a building, blue sky and all, a clean facility that would have caught Batman's envy for the five seconds he bothered to feel it. As his head cleared, Robin heard a voice, calm English over the blare of an unfamiliar alarm.

_"-please proceed to training ground seven. I repeat, there is an intruder-"_

Robin realized there were two possibilities: either there was another intruder, or  _he_  was the intruder here. If it was the former, which all things considered was incredibly unlikely, he could offer his help, which would give him more resources in finding Raven. If the latter, and provided these were competent and not evil people holding his friend against her will (how would anyone succeed at that?), he'd have to look harmless.

Which is precisely why he raised his hands in as much of a peaceful gesture as possible. The weapons all had gems, or something like a gem. Magic? Superpowers? He cycled mentally through the people he knew of, looking for which of them would think of using gems.

"Who are you?" The first speaker was female, quick and terse. Well, at least there was a lack of a language barrier to worry about.

"My name-" the name he went by now anyway- "Is Robin. I… Is it possible you could tell me where I am?"

If he had to, he could probably fight them, but he didn't know the terrain or their style. With his friends back there, fighting against that stereotype of a demon, he didn't have the luxury of time to waste on that.

One hesitated, then another piped up. "What did you think you were doing, crashing into our training grounds. Did you get your hands on a Device capable of flight?"

"I-I'm sorry?" The way they said 'device'... the weapons they were carrying, magic or some kind, Robin figured. The energy signature was pretty obvious.

He needed to move. He didn't know where that urgency came from all of a sudden, but the necessity tickled and bugged at his nerves, frayed, thin-

Wait.

"I'm looking for someone." He kept his voice as calm as he could, trying to taper down the alien emotions touching at his. "Her name is Raven. She has purple hair. She was taken away from my home and my friends. I was looking for her when I ended up here. I'm not sure how I got here. Could someone tell me what's going on?"

He really wished Cyborg was here. This was his forte. Despite being a hulking mass of technology, he was incredibly persuasive and good at the whole chilled-out way of doing things, without Beast Boy's non-stop enthusiasm.

The urgency touched at his mind again. He knew this feeling, somehow. It was close, so close, like when-

" _He's here! I can see him."_

" _Then let me see him."_

Things changed when someone entered your mind that closely.

The soldiers (yes, they had to be soldiers because soldiers kept that discipline with ease that he envied) all looked at each other and conversed in a low whisper. Their weapons remained trained on him, and so did most of their eyes. Robin mentally appreciated that. Competent paranoia. The team probably could use a little more of that.

Not that they wanted to, everyone thought he had enough for all of them.

_"Who're you?"_

Only a couple years of occasional mental touches to the brain gave Robin the self-control to not twitch his hands towards a weapon. "Raven?" he whispered, barely moving his lips.

 _"H-How do you know my name?"_  A pause, and the voice, which now that he heard it, sounded a bit shaky, a bit young.  _"Who are you?"_

"My name is Robin." Amnesia? He supposed, considering the ritual had been meant to wipe her from existence, that was a lucky break. "Are you okay?"

Another pause.  _"Why do you care?"_

Ah… yep. That was the Raven he knew, the one before meeting them who pretended not to care.

"We're friends."

* * *

Rae felt Fate's gentle hands pull her fingers from her head and she looked up at her. The worry, sea green, was almost as powerful as the anxiety coming from… Subaru? That was her name? She needed to work on names a bit more.

"I heard something… in my head," she finally stuttered out. "A voice, a boy's voice. He said…" Rae thought about it. Should she tell them? She didn't even know who he was. And the concern Fate had seemed tinged with red-violet, protection. Protecting her? From what?

 _Robin said we were friends_.

The statement shouldn't have made her insides warm, or relieved, or… any of those things. But it did.

So she told them, and as she did, an image popped up on screen. At the sight of the slicked-back spikes of black, Rae felt a fresh wave of nausea.

Robin.

that was the voice. She was sure, that was him, that was him exactly. Clothes torn, bleeding a little, but he was alive.

Why did that matter? Why was that so important to her?

Rae wanted to kick at Fate when she picked her up, but she couldn't find it in herself. The connection with her father was almost gone. She had felt that instinctively. Where had her father gone? Why… why were these things happening?

The walls shook for a few moments as she struggled to calm down. It took ten chants, and the calm sound of Fate ordering… somebody? around before she managed to see clearly and breathe again. She hadn't even noticed she was in Subaru's lap until she was.

"It's gonna be all right," Subaru said with a smile. "Just leave it to Fate-san and the others, okay?"

Rae chewed her lip. Starfire. Yes.

This person was like Starfire.


	10. Window

Robin put his mask back on with no small amount of relief. The medical examiner gave him a bemused look but didn't comment. Was she used to that sort of thing?

She didn't comment about it, handing him back his gloves instead.t"All right, if you wait here for a few minutes, someone will be here to speak with you about your  _problem_."

Robin really didn't like that turn of phrase but it was better than saying they didn't plan to hear him out at all.

He nodded his thanks and sat back in the chair. He wasn't exactly comfortable on this side of the chair, but he could endure it for a while. He knew Raven was alive. He could figure out what to do next from here.

What condition was she in? What kind of world was this? Could he bring her back? Should he?

This was why he had trouble with teamwork and downtime. Too many darn variables.

She had sounded all right, though that didn't really say anything. She had to be close by, considering the clear voice. Not even she could keep up a long-distance telepathic link… supposedly. At the very least, they were in the same place. He couldn't sense her now, but the link had always been more of a one way sidewalk.

What if she didn't want to leave?

Robin ended up not being able to think that question through. The door opened and a woman walked in. It was a stride like holding her head up high was a slow-taught process with lots of back pushes and steady retreads. Her red eyes didn't even twitch from his face. Without thinking, Robin found himself tensing in his chair.

Well, she was threatening. Probably on par with someone from the League if she tried.

The woman's gaze softened a little, but it was so minute that Robin couldn't help but wonder if he'd done something wrong. "My name is Fate Testarossa Harlaown. I am an Enforcer of the Dimensional Bureau, a high ranking officer typically stationed off-world. According to the report, you crash-landed here unintentionally without any Device, correct?"

"Uh… yes?" He was getting the distinct impression that she didn't like him.

Harlaown continued, as though rattling off the misdeeds to a criminal with the cuffs already on. "All of your confiscated weapons lack a magical affinity, therefore you have likely come into contact with a Lost Logia with dimensional abilities."

"I honestly expected to end up in a place that was surrounded by fire and rocks and with more monsters." Robin sat back. He couldn't let her rattle him, even though he had an idea that all of the terminology usage was meant to unnerve him. He'd seen enough interrogations that said good and bad cop was a bigger lie than romance novels. Her eyes said she was looking for something specific.

"Why?" She sat in the chair at long last, arms folded in her lap. There wasn't a recorder in sight, but an odd yellow gem seemed to flash in the light. Device? Probably.

Robin decided for candid. If she was going to fish, who was he to stop her? He was in the bad spot here. "I was looking for my friend with an… associate." He skipped past the bit about Slade. He was hoping he was dead now. Doubtful. "The place I was in until now was like a journey to the center of the earth. Lava, fire monsters, earthquakes, you get my point." He paused, recalling the last few seconds before the crash. "Last thing I remember is opening a door, and everything went dark."

"Then you were here." Harlaown's voice had taken on a quiet, thoughtful glint. "You asked the soldiers about a girl with purple hair. Do you still think she's here?"

"Do you know her? Is she safe?" The second question blurted out before he could stop it and Robin almost wanted to kick himself. He was still in a bad position.

Yet, and yet, the woman was smiling. "Yes, and yes." The tension eased from her shoulders and Harlaown's eyes grew warm. "Thank you for answering so freely, Robin, was it? I was concerned you were someone else."

The air in the room had changed. Positive, the power of the room was shifting. Well, he didn't think he was going to be blown up anymore at least. He inched forward in the chair. "Someone else."

"Whoever it was that hurt her." The calm in that voice was a lie. She was  _furious._

Not that he could blame her. "That would be her father, Trigon."  _That's the one we can do something about, anyway._ Raven had admitted that Azarath was dead and gone.

The spark of recognition never came, or at least Robin missed it, but she nodded. "She mentioned something like that." A thoughtful pause crept between them before Fate spoke again. "Would you like to see her?"

If he had nodded any faster, his head would have fallen off of his neck.


	11. Mythology

"You can make your Device look like this too…"

Subaru pointed at another design, one of a bracelet. Rae licked her lips, examining the twisting curves of metal. "It looks like it would break."

Subaru nodded. "You'd think but Devices are made with some really strong metals and crystals. I'm pretty clumsy so they have to be."

"Can't control your own strength?" Rae vaguely thought of Starfire again, the name bringing up the smell of fire and the sky and odd foods without readable names.

Subaru flushed. "No, not really. Part of my style, I guess." She grinned again. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that though. You're a full back type, support. It's in your stance. One of my friends is and she raises dragons."

Dragons? All Rae could think of at the word dragons was green fire and someone laughing at her. The display rippled, but she caught herself at the sound of footsteps.

"Subaru, Rae!"

Subaru waved a hand a Fate and let Rae down from her seat, banishing the display. "Fate-san! I was just showing Rae-chan what kind of Device she could have."

Rae listened to this with half an ear, watching the person walking behind Fate. He seemed, not at ease, there was too much orange for that, but he was still happy. She thought. His eyes locked on her and his aura changed to sun-yellow, causing her to blink and scurry back. He relaxed somewhat, masked eyes fixed on her and he stumbled over. Fate's eyes flickered at him, but when she didn't stop him, Rae found herself relaxing a little.

Something was butting against her mind, like a cat against someone's hand. It was cautious, not sure what it was doing.

"Robin?" she said, voice cautious.

Robin smiled, and knelt on the ground. She got the impression he wasn't used to doing that, and for some reason it made her smile.

Then he drew her closer into a hug and she was so surprised her magic curled back in on herself. She shut her eyes at the onslaught of color but couldn't stop the feelings that touched her, all fleeting and strong. Relief, joy, fear, concern, friend, friend-

_Sorry._

Why was that in there?

After a few moments, Robin pulled back. His face was somewhat pink. "Sorry," he mumbled "I know, you're not a fan, neither am I, but…"

The words were too awkward for either of them. Rae racked her brain for why all those emotions could be there (or how. Someone feeling that many things at the same time was possible, of course, but it seemed awfully painful.). She gave Robin's mind a nervous prod. He wouldn't mind, their minds were touching, so she must have trusted him back the- back when? She couldn't remember, she couldn't remember-

" _Gem. Gem. Gem."_

" _You know what you must do, dear daughter."_

Rae bit her lip.

"He-He's on Earth, isn't he?"

Robin nodded.

Raven rubbed her eyes. "Not possible." She was acutely aware of Fate and Subaru's chatter tapering off. "If-If he's on Earth, then-then-the-then I'm dead, aren't I?"

Robin looked her over and the look on his face made her swallow any desire to cry. Though why shouldn't she cry?  _He_  had her powers now. Nothing should be happening. Unless it was her own magic all along, and that  _really_ didn't make this any better. "You're standing here now, and I'm not dead," he said. "I think that's as good a start as any, don't you?"

Rae tried to smile, but the look was wet.

* * *

" _Fate, I've found a few things. I'll be sending you the texts shortly."_

"thank you, Yuuno." She sighed into her earpiece. "Sorry to bother you on your day off."

" _No, don't worry. That sounds rather serious. Is the girl all right?"_

"Mary is showing her Devices." Fate glanced at the other side of the room, where Subaru was coaxing Rae to read over the specs of each one. Mary looked delighted. "She seems more and more desperate to have one."

" _It will certainly make her life easier, with a direction to tap all that wild power into,"_  Yuuno mused. " _All right, one last text. Is Bardiche ready?"_

[Quite, sir.]

If Fate didn't know any better, she'd think her old friend was offended.

Robin watched her, at least from what she could tell. His earlier loss of composure was gone. It was so brief, she'd almost think he had been faking it. His voice was a bit too sincere for her to assume that. "Confused," she said, watching Subaru gesture a bit too much.

"Very," he replied, voice dry. "My friend Cyborg would have a field day."

"Is that his real name?"

"No," Robin scratched his head. "He just came up with it because he's half robot from an accident."

Fate nodded. "Subaru is a cyborg."

Robin blinked at her, then realized she wasn't joking. "You guys have some incredible technology."

"Magic can seem like that."

He was quiet a moment. "It's nice to see someone say magic and not look upset. Or at her like that."

"...You don't."

"I try not to. We all do. She's my friend."

Fate felt herself smile. "You're a good friend."

He shook his head. "A good friend would know what to do right now."

"You'll figure out, or you two will figure it out together. That's what friends do."


	12. Bells

"You can fight, mister?"

Rae was torn about the expression on Vivio's face. Were all children in this place that excited about fighting? To be honest, she would rather avoid it, or at least make it quick. She had seen Vivio though. The girl could make practice go on for hours if she tried. She had once, and passed out on the floor.

Robin looked both puzzled and amused, the pale blue around him said more confused than anything. "Yeah, my mentor taught me the basics."

Vivio beamed. "So did mine! Can you show me? Please?"

"You have to ask Nanoha-mama first," Fate interrupted while Robin looked bemused. You didn't need empathy to notice Robin was not a kid person. Rae would have laughed, but she had no idea of what would happen if she went out of control while in that state. So she just smiled a little.

Vivio pouted. "Fate-mama…"

"I was trained to be pretty rough," Robin said with a twitch of his lips. "Catching criminals is a full time job after all." He was trying to be polite and friendly, but he really just came off twitchy.

Vivio crossed her arms. "So are my parents."

"Which is why you need to ask them." Robin's voice came out amused now. Rae smiled behind her hand. The sensation of a smile was still uncomfortable, but she was starting to like it.

"Awww..." Vivio only drooped for a few minutes more, then she took Rae's wrist. "Wanna go try projectiles?"

Rae nodded. She rather liked those. They were indirect and controllable. She began to chant her mantra in her head, letting herself get pulled on. It was almost like Beast Boy, but... easier to deal with.

Hold on... what?

Vivio cheered and tugged her away, leaving Robin and Fate alone again. Robin shifted and watched Fate out of the corner of his mask. She didn't seem agitated in the least.

"What do those Devices do?" Fate frowned at him. He paused, uncomfortable. They weren't on opposite sides of an interrogation table anymore. He shouldn't try to make it that way, but... "Is it really important for her to have one?" He didn't want to just drag her back, not when she was like this and her powers were probably unstable.

Fate shook her head. "It depends on the construction on the Device. They are not catch-all, fix everything machines." She held out a golden triangle to him. "My own, Bardiche, is for a Midchildan style. He works with my speed to increase my offense, for example. He processes some of my spells. That is the extent. Devices are only there to support the user. They can't take away the need for effort and time."

"Then why does she need one?" He was trying not to tap his foot, because this woman got a smile out of his friend so easily and that meant she had something.

Fate tapped her cheek. "I will not pretend to be an expert, but... the main purpose hers will serve is to temporarily absorb her excess magical energy. It will be an assistant. Younger children grow magically and physically at a higher speed than i would now. It will have a limiter, which will unconsciously force her to find alternate methods to use magic."

"So does meditation." And Raven had been doing that for years and enjoyed it.

"But she doesn't have that kind of time, does she?" Fate sounded still calm, still wary. "You are uncomfortable here, and I can't blame you. Even so, I, and likely Nanoha as well, will treat her like a child, because we see her as one. You know she isn't. Children need the freedom to grow and dream. However... that Trigon of yours... we naturally have to worry and plan."

"He may not come for her," Robin mused. "He's revived and she was supposed to die, but... you know." He understood. It was entirely possible that he would notice. As much as he needed to get back, she needed to be able to push back. That involved confidence. A confidence and strength he, all of the Titans, knew she had, but she did not.

She needed that back.

"What was Rae-chan like before?"

Her question was so abrupt, it took him by surprise. She was serious, kind. Her sharpness went against his roughness. It was surreal.

Still, he had no choice but to answer.

* * *

Cranagan was a city like a lot of cities. Except most cities did not run almost everything on magic. Azarath had, but they had had centuries and centuries to learn how to do it this well. According to Vivio's mothers, Mid-Childa had barely had eighty years, but the millennia of previous civilizations had assisted them in that regard.

Then again, if all of Vivio's stories were true, a lot had happened in those eighty years.

Rae glanced at the bracelet around her right wrist. It was supposed to suppress her magic, and it… wasn't really. She could still feel it bubbling at her fingertips. Wasn't that bad? What if it burst out?

"Rae-chan! Hurry, over here!"

Rae blinked, seeing Vivio at the crosswalk. "Ah… sorry." It was still something to get used to, this person calling her to be involved. Her first instinct was to say no, but something told her Vivio would tug her along anyway. She went to catch up when a low voice made her freeze.

"You're going the wrong way, dear girl."

Rae turned around and the bracelet shattered before she could rein in her fury, her fear. Her body trembled. She knew this man in that part of her mind that remembered Robin and Starfire and that this  _wasn't_ right.

"Slade," she said softly and if she could see his face, she might have seen him smile.


	13. Ornaments

"Trigon...huh?"

Yuuno flipped through another text and coughed away from the book. These texts were quite old, almost falling apart beneath his fingers. He scanned them into the archive as he flipped, so they'd never have to go through this again. The paperwork was ridiculous, but he had perfected the art of doing it in the back of his mind. It was well worth it, in the end.

He almost wished Arf was here, but she was running an errand for the Lost Logia section. It could be another half an hour or so. So he was on his own, searching for more information about this mysterious demon. This world eater, existing since before the fabled Al-Hazardian people. They seemed to fear him in these texts, if not admire him. Admire his gluttony.

"He often takes servants, much like the Non-Administrated World 97 main western religions' expect of the devil known as Lucifer… only to turn the deals on them… it's rare to survive such a deal…" Yuuno frowned. "Wonderful… 'He was once sealed in…"

But that couldn't be the case… as according to Fate he was connected to little Rae. The seal had to have been removed or worked around somehow… possibly through…

Yuuno's eyes widened. Of course. Blood Magic and Curses.

He went to look.

* * *

"Slade." Her voice is soft but her memories loud and she thought of him leaning over her, voice a purr, single eye and electric power holding her still, aging her, aging her time until she did nothing but create wrongdoing and suffering and- there was Vivio's hand in hers, soft and fierce.

"Rae-chan." The seriousness in her voice made her almost want to fly away, but the heterochromatic eyes stopped her. If she ran on her own, she wouldn't make it, not now. Not even with a demon's stamina. "Let's go!"

Rae nodded and when the light changed, they shot off. Rae heard Slade's chuckle even in the crowd. He hadn't moved, he hadn't attacked anyone but still, she could hear him.

" _You're running the wrong way, little girl."_

Vivio's hands sparked a strange myriad of colors and shot into the air. A signal for help on her terminal. Rae prayed it would work. She didn't know why he was here. If he had made it so she could become the gem, if he had persuaded her of it-

" _Oh Raven, you didn't need much persuading and you_ know  _it."_

-then he must be an envoy for her or father or had been which mean  _he was out_  and on another planet. The planet Robin was from, most likely. THe planet she must have lived on. So, why was she here?

She should be dead so why was she-

Maybe her father had been wrong about that, about her termination. What else had he been wrong about?

Well, he was wrong about something, at least. People weren't leaving her behind. She squeezed Vivio's hand and thought of her powers, bubbling under the surface. She closed her eyes and shivered at its touch.

"We'll be okay, Rae-chan!" Vivio chirped as she ran. "The Mamas are coming. I sent the signal."

Raven nodded. She just didn't want to know what else would get to them in the meantime. A pain raced through her chest and almost made her pause. Then she pushed her feet forward as they dove deeper into Cranagan. That was probably a bad idea, to get civilians involved unexpectedly, but that was how Slade worked wasn't it? Get as many casualties as possible.

How did she know that? How?

She knew Robin, she knew Starfire. She knew all of these things and couldn't explain how or why she knew them other than that they must have happened before.

"What's going to happen-" she murmured to herself, stopping as the thought wormed through her head. Vivio's stride was cut off mid-step as she turned to look at her.

"Rae-chan?"

"What's going to happen if I remember?" Rae shook her head, pulling their hands apart, pain racing to her stomach. "Will I disappear again? What am I going to do?" Fear shook the buildings, blasted and beat at the windows.

Vivio pulled Rae to her, even as the other girl squirmed and shuddered. The memories, the past or future, she wasn't sure, beat against her skull like trapped baby birds, trying to be heard. Vivio stayed quiet, watching the alleyway, thinking of how she had run through the sewers, looking for her mama, looking for someone strong.

There hadn't been words then, and she didn't have any now. She could feel Rae trying not to cry. So she held her and tried to calm her, trying to think of a way to buy time. That guy hadn't pursued them, but he was tough. He would find them, eventually.

They just had to hope it was after their mamas got there. She made to lead Rae somewhere in the shadows.

Then fire monsters burst out of nowhere. The sky turned red.

Rae started to scream.


	14. Joy

Vivio felt, for a moment, like she was back at Riot Force Six, back with the explosions and the soldiers and pain. Then, she shook herself and grabbed Rae's arms. Her friend, probably adoptive sister, looked through her, sweat and fear turning her skin nearly transparent, and purple eyes resigned to something, something unforgivably painful. Vivio knew that look. Vivio had worn that look.

She smiled through it and tugged, dragging the other girl forward, behind something that might block a couple of blows. Then, she gave a sharp turn and raised her fists up. The Belkan magic square reacted, spiraling into existence so fast it barely needed a calculation.

The creatures oozed forward, not making any noise beyond the hissing of the melting ground. Vivio concentrated, then pushed off, punching one right in the face. Her knuckles ached and smoked a little and she drew back. No good, she wasn't strong enough. Maybe pure magic? She began to gather it, floating it over her palm. Then a tentacle of flame thrust forward. Rae leaped, rolling her away. It melted a hole in the nearby dumpster. Gosh that was old. Magical disposal was so much cleaner.

Still. These guys were really tough. _Sacred Defender would buy time,_ she thought to herself. But she wasn't very good at it, she hadn't been training for very long. She gathered the magic again. This was what made her wish she had her mama's ability to pull the magical energy from the air. She had barely any clue how to do anything and Rae-chan was…

She had stopped screaming now, at least. She was staring off into the distance like a broken eyed ragdoll. Vivio tried to smile. She would be strong, like she had promised her mama. She would protect the people she loved no matter what!

As she moved to do just that, _something_ reverberated in her body. It was heavy and thick, like her blood had been replaced with clotted cream.

 **'Oh,'** crooned the something. It was deep and cold. It reminded her of Quattro, but somehow. **'What is this? What is this** insect doing **protecting my daughter?'**

Vivio made to turn her head, to look at Rae's still terrified face. "Rae-chan…" But Raven was staring right past her towards the sky as it slowly ripped from blue to black, rimmed in red. As more fire monsters rained from the sky, multiple red eyes blinked down at them, followed by a fanged smile.

 **"What an interesting little world. If only it wouldn't be so easy to** conquer."

The eyes blinked away and the flame monsters converged. Vivio looked around. Her mamas would have the power and smarts to get out of this. All she had was her fists. What was she going to do?

What were they going to try and do to the two of them?

Vivio did not get her answer. Instead, a black and white shroud wrapped around her, bursting and throwing the monsters back into the wall where they crumbled. Even as more formed to take their place, Vivio turned. The white magic square spun beneath Rae's feet, dancing purple as sweat fell from her brow. The utter surprise in her face was palpable. Her bracelet had spun into gloves and a strangely familiar golden belt. The jewels on it sparkled in the light of her magic.

Vivio beamed. "Nice timing, Rae-chan!" She pumped a fist in the air. "Do a spell on me, do one on me!"

Raven blinked, brought from her daze. For a moment, she had remembered something. So many somethings she had forgotten even though she had needed them, so many things too blurry to word but they all added up to one thing:

She had released her father. And he had destroyed her homes.

She couldn't let him destroy this one too.

It was an odd feeling, to have courage. She wasn't actually sure that she could stop him. She didn't think she had a chance to drag him into a seal, like so many had. But she could stop his minions, couldn't she?

Raven wanted to believe that she could, that she had any chance of making destiny end differently. She didn't know why either. Everyone she had ever loved before was surely dead.

But Robin… he was still here. That was hope, maybe.

She closed her eyes and thought of what Vivio wanted her to do. Use a spell… on her? Like… support? Support her? She had never been good at that. Her magic was itching to try, itching to be cast and used and not trapped in a bottle.

So she clenched one fist. "Azarath… boost."

"Boosting," chirped the gloves on her hands and purple light wound around Vivio. She beamed at her.

"Nice! Nice!"And then she was off and punching again. Only this time, it was working.

Raven almost sunk to her knees. "Just what am I doing?" You weren't supposed to defy your parents.

The flutter in her chest said otherwise.


	15. Porcelain

Robin often wished for power, often hungered for it. Power for revenge, power for justice, power to protect. He failed to obtain it, each and every time., for a long while. It wasn't something you obtained, it was something you shared.

So, he stuck with what he knew. He ran with all the strength his legs had, borrowing rooftops and walls. Unlike his inspector and her wife (which barely concerned him, that was common for Jump City, surprisingly enough), he did not need to cut through some red tape. He smashed a demon as he swung, searching, following the burst, the energy, the _fear_ that tended to be all-consuming in Raven, especially in relation to her father. After all, he was powerful and all knowing of what was around her and how to wrench it apart.

He knew what that fear felt like, and his friends, his family had saved him from it.

Now they just had to save Raven, and the world.

Robin felt his lips twitch into a smile. No big deal.

Then a chill ran up his spine, and he stopped. His staff extended. The chuckle that had bounced in and out of his dreams reverberated again. "Hello Robin."

Armored fingers, a two-toned mask, weapon at the ready despite a completely relaxed posture. "Slade." Robin kept his voice quiet. "I thought you and Trigon were through."

"Indeed we are," he said, as relaxed in tone as ever. "But in the process of completing my work, I ended up here. Raven is… quite paranoid in her youth and was unwilling to help me. It's well appreciated." Watching Robin's grip tighten on his, his voice almost sounded like he was smiling. "Ah. Yes. Your little promise. 'Of you ever saw me again…'"

"I don't have time for you." Robin felt himself slipping to pounce anyway. Just like Slade wanted. Just like his old mentor would have wanted. They always brought this out of him, this isolation.

But before he could move, the bond with Raven started to scream.

Without hesitation, Robin turned on his heel and went to follow it.

Slade chuckled. So predictable. He moved away, calling the magical scythe back to his palm. Now to get back to finding a way to Earth. After all, what was the point of conquest if it was not a territory you loved?

* * *

She couldn't breathe. The Power, the _magic_ was heavier than her heart, heavy withdrawal. But it was so welcome. Even with the weight, she had needed this.

Of course, it still hurt.

Vivio didn't seem to notice. Then again, would you? She was focusing on beating up fire demons. As she watched, they were surprisingly easy to knock down. THeir regeneration was slow. Still they could win by sheer numbers, and Rae's own power was limited there...wasn't it?

Raven paused. No, she wasn't powerless against these. Her father maybe, but if all it took was one good shot or two… Her mind began to whirl, Device shining. The magic rolled outward, shrinking, swirling, into solid light.

"Dragon's Eye," Azarath chanted. "Fire."

And they burst with light, causing the magic to drain out too much too fast and her mind screamed with it but it didn't matter because fire demons were exploding into ash.

Vivio stopped, landing back. "Nice!" Right after she said that, more formed from the ashes left behind. "Nuts!" She blocked with her wrist, then kicked out with her leg. "We'll have to keep this up for a little more, Rae-chan!"

Raven made a noise of exhausted agreement. This wasn't the kind of fighting that she did. Her magic was welling up in all sorts of ways. There was no way to adjust to it this quickly.

Then a red and yellow metal bird soared and spun through a monster's face A slender arm scooped her and Vivio up too easily as they flew up and up out of reach. At least, if for the moment.

"Hi!" Vivio greeted, relaxing her magic. "You're okay!"

Robin grinned weakly himself. "I'm not so easy to kill."

"I remember that." Rae felt her small shoulders relax, even as the dread pit in her stomach grew wider and wider. Her father wasn't going to stop. Not until this world was molten and dead.

How could she stop him from here?

(Later, Raven would notice how different that train of thought was from the rest.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this fic is one of those ones that I know where it's going but how is like pulling my gums apart with piano wire. Don't worry, I'm still going and I hope, maybe, I can get this one done by the end of the year, if not early February. (Wishful thinking, yes I know)
> 
> Thank you for your patience with me. If you like what I do here, or even if you don't, let me know in the reviews! It really helps me out as a writer! Have a good one!


	16. Wonder

Starfire, as a general rule, did not give up easily. Even when things were at their most downtrodden, she knew how to pick up her feet and move forward. That was the way of her people and simply how she preferred it.

Still, fighting herself, she was starting to appreciate how  _annoying_ fighting her must be. How vexing.

But she would not stop, not now. Robin was doing as he must. He would bring their Raven home. They merely had to survive long enough to make that a reality.

"It amuses me that you continue to rise."

Seeing a sneer worthy of her sister on her own face was almost enough to make her want to stand down. However, the desire to, as Beast Boy would put it, 'punch their lights out' was infinitely more endearing.

And yet.

Her sensitive Tamaranean ears caught the tail end of a comment, words in a warped, mocking version of friend Cyborg's voice-over

"Oh, that's right, you don't  _have_  a mommy."

She saw green and red and turned mid-flight, slamming the fake Cyborg into two buildings. It still wasn't satisfying enough.

Cyborg managed to rise, staring at the holes abandoned. "Nice shot," he said.

"Thank you," she said after a moment. "My aim is good, yes? Let us help friend Beast Boy."

"Yeah, I'd really like that!" His high-pitched voice carried across the otherwise near silent Jump City. The city they would most definitely reclaim. Then they could go back to their fun lives of pizza and to be kicking villains where they belonged.

But first that apparently, meant kicking the Beast Boy's butt. That was something she knew at the very least, that Cyborg would be willing to accomplish. Her eyes flickered towards Trigon and then back towards where they had let Robin go. How far could he have gotten? Where would Raven be in the depths of that underworld? If only they could communicate all the way down there, but that would be too much of a distraction. But a sign. A signpost of hope would definitely renew their powers. Starfire was sure of it.

Something purple sparked at the edge of her strong vision.

She had to fly away to dodge a new attack but she still could see the moving figure. Herself, really, but she had to get to the fake of Cyborg. All while keeping an eye on that… that purple light.

Perhaps she could take that as hope.

* * *

Robin had wondered what kind of planet could deal with a universe of Starfires on a daily basis that wasn't invading or conquering, simply trying to coexist peacefully. He was starting to think wherever this was was a very good example.

Mainly because had just seen a girl punch a meteor and that wasn't common, especially with your bare fists.

Raven cringed beside him, but she didn't stop her, or any of it. "Can you get him from here?" he asked. Then he made a face, kicking himself. Of course she couldn't. She hadn't been willing to go against him from the beginning. He couldn't ask her that.

She, like he expected, shook her head. "It's too far. He's not really here, I think. Just a projection."

"A projection with fire demons!" Vivio hopped back beside them, blowing desperate puffs of air onto her burning knuckles. "Even with reinforcement, it still got through."

"It's demonic fire," Raven said, almost too quietly to be heard over the flames. "I'm surprised your hands are okay at all."

Vivio only grinned at her. "I'm stronger than I look!"

Robin watched Raven almost smile. But then her eyes went empty and forlorn. "I could have stopped this, couldn't I?"

"Maybe," he admitted before he could slap himself again. "But he's also your father."

"He's not a very good one," Vivio nodded.

Raven for a moment bristled. Then she laughed weakly like she was about to cry. "No, he's terrible. Parents are supposed to love and treasure their children. Not… this. Not any of this."

Robin thought of his own parents, of their terrible fall, of his mentor, his second father's inability to voice his thoughts, his heart the way he probably desperately wanted to.

He reached out and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Yeah," he agreed.

She swallowed and seemed to bunch up as if bracing for something difficult. "Is everyone okay back there?"

Robin watched the flaming meteors evaporate into dust. "Well, it's our team. We're always okay."

"For now," she murmured. "For now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I still exist. and so does this. I'm so sorry this has taken as long as it has. No real excuse except for the fact that I was really annoyed with this one and didn't want to post it. I eventually just decided to roll with it and hopefully the next one won't take as long so I can get back into Finish Line. Anyway, thank you so much again for waiting it means a lot!


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